Outdoor vac- recommendations? Earlex combi vac replacement

[dysondestijl]

Hi all, I have this Earlex combi vac wet and dry vacuum with blower function.
I was using it on the back yard today and I was contemplating replacing it.
It is about 10 to 12 years of age, so has seen a lot of use in its life.
Now it is absolutely wonderful, but has its drawbacks, of which I will list later on.
It is a wet and dry, and I am very grateful as I have had to use it a few times, once my dad had a bucket of water in the kitchen and the handle snapped on the bucket! It handled that spillage just fine!
It has a huge capacity, and good suction.
Now for its problems:
The floor brush has a chunk of plastic snapped off it,
The part where the hose connects to the vacuum, is broken and the hose can often fall out if pulled,
This also means that it cannot be pulled around, meaning that it must be picked up when're it's needed to be moved!
I am very much wanting to get a brand new combi-vac, as I do really like it!
Any suggestions, anyone?

 

[irish-vac-king]

i think that parkside is best wet dry vac

 

[sebo_fan]

Alex, really depends on what you're prepared to put up with. If its a quality wet an dry tub vacuum alone, a Numatic Charles if you can afford it. However Charles lacks a blower function and I use a garden vac with that function alone anyway to get around as opposed to an outdoor canister.

After much consideration last year when my in-laws borrowed my Numatic Charles and haven't given it back since, I bought a cheap wet and dry tub vacuum from one of my favourite sellers online, known for offering cheap discounted refurbished vacuums as opposed to going to the other side of the country to request my Numatic Charles back!

Bought a Karcher tub vacuum that is wet and dry, which is perfect for the garage and until this very evening when my Bosch dishwasher started telling me of a pump blockage (pesky Yankee Candle wax clogged the filter) used it for the first time for water pick up due to the excess water left in the pod at the bottom of the dishwasher. The Karcher was brilliant as I thought it would be...and the in-laws will be returning Charles soon so we can swap over.

The bonus with the Numatic Charles is that he has a larger dust bag capacity to Henry, extremely robust though he can take Henry's bags too should you require it. You don't get a bowler hat cord winder though on that wet and dry, but I've had Charles now for about 6 years and hasn't let me down.

Either that or an old Vax 3 in 1 machine with the recovery bucket.

 

[dysondestijl]

Thanks for your syggestions, I am greatful, I have thought about a karcher vacuum actually!

 

[sebo_fan]

To be honest I find Karcher tubs to be poorly made. Vax is the next step up with Numatic offering the best quality.

 

[dysondestijl]

Well I was using it again today(compost spillage outside) and I was thinking at actually how great it is, then I tried to empty it wich was a real pain in the a**e!!!
I looked at the einhell tubs in Argos, and looked at a vax but that just didn't suit my needs

 

[parwaz786]

In argos, there4s a £50 Bush wet and dry vac or a George vacuum

 

[dysondestijl]

Yeah tayyab I looked at the Argos/pro action vac, I'm considering it

 

[sebo_fan]

Wet and Dry...Bush

Just looked at the review feedback on site and notice that the cord is 3.7metres! Surely that can't be right on a large wet and dry vacuum - but it seems a few have moaned about the short length. 3.7metres is useless, unless of course you're prepared to put up with that and then faff about with a cord extension.

Auto Express car mag recently gave the £130 or so Nilfisk a best buy though.

 

[parwaz786]

OMG 375 AW?! More sction than a Miele or Dyson for sure!

 

[sebo_fan]

I've a feeling that's not quite right. For one thing the stats list states 14 litre wet and 15 litre dry, yet a close up on the main handle where the brand name shows that there's a 1250 watt motor and suddenly the mention of 20 litres...

Argos have a habit of mixing up stats from time to time.

 

[dysondestijl]

Well the combi vac only has about a 3 metre cord!

 

[gsheen]

That's a shopvac, badged as bush. The nilfisk would be the one to go for. Well made and you should be able to get a larger diameter hose for out door cleanup. Karcher is nice especially the larger models but there hoses are useless and clog with ease in outdoor use.

 

[gsheen]

My Karcher A 2504 that I use for some of my yard work and in my workshop.

 

[gsheen]

The one thing about Karchers are the filters are incredibly small. The nilfisk one is almost 5 times bigger.
You can use a paper bag in the unit but whats the point, I use it outdoors to suck up leaves and stuff and who wants that fermenting in the bag for 2 weeks.

 

[dysondestijl]

I've seen marchers, they never really caught my eye in any way though!

 

[gsheen]

One of the first things I did was cut off the deflector plate, It was far to restrictive, If you sucked up a twig it would block it and I have a very tree full garden.

The purpose of the deflector plate for those who don't know is to stop objects hitting filter and clogging it or worse damaging it.

 

[gsheen]

Cutting it off is not a problem as the filter sits lower than the inlet so the dirt gets deflected by the lower motor casing

 

[gsheen]

The biggest problem is this tank fitting, The hose fits over the end not into like on other vacuums this it reduces the internal diameter from 32mm down to 27, It also creates a nice place for clogs to happen.